


Everything's Alright

by NeoNails



Series: Covert Reactions [3]
Category: Covert Affairs
Genre: A Little Flirty, A Little Tipsy, Crush, Episode: s01e04 No Quarter, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Jetlagged, The Tavern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 18:43:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoNails/pseuds/NeoNails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of trying to find you and pull you out of a dangerous situation in an unfriendly country, I got to play twenty questions with one of Arthur Campbell's pitbulls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything's Alright

_You've got to find your balance_  
 _You've got to realize_  
 _You've got to try to find what's right before your eyes_  
 _And if you find you've fallen_  
 _And all your grace is gone  
_ _Then scream for me and I'll be what you're falling on_

\- "Falling On," by Finger Eleven

 

* * *

It was late. Really late. Like, so late it made her eyes droop just thinking about the hour.

And she was tired. Really tired. Like, so tired if she even bothered to try and think up a good measurement for how tired she felt she was pretty sure she would just pass out.

As much as she wanted to drag her sorry ass to the guest house and pass out for the next month and a half, the pub was calling her name. She wanted one nice, strong drink before she hailed a cab and tried to forget this whole mess ever happened.

Annie expected the pub to be dead when she walked through the doors and into the dimly lit, yet somehow still homey bar. It _was_ basically dead- if you ignored the two drunks passed out on each other in the back corner- except for one guy sitting at the bar. She would have to be truly comatose to not recognize those shoulders.

"Shouldn't you be at home right now?" she asked, walking up behind him and sliding onto the stool next to him. She dropped her coat and purse onto the floor and, catching the bartender's eye- she couldn't understand how he could be functioning at this hour to actually serve and mix drinks- ordered a shot of whiskey.

Auggie grinned, but didn't look up from where he was nursing what looked like Jack on the rocks. "Hey, you made it back," he said, sounding as calm and relaxed as ever, always a balm on her horrible day. "I'm hoping in one piece, too."

She chuckled, wrapping her fingers around the narrow glass the bartender had set out for her and knocked back the shot, wincing a little as the alcohol burned her throat. "I'm in one piece, as far as I know," she said. "Even though I feel _way_ less than 100-percent."

"Join the club," he replied, and it was only then that she finally noticed in her sleep- and stress-induced haze that despite his always comforting tone, there was something seriously bugging her favorite tech geek.

Annie frowned, and signaled the bartender once more to refill her shot glass. "What happened while I was gone?" she asked quietly. She didn't add that she was pretty confident this was the first time she had ever seen him really upset and angry, and how much it bothered her.

He took a heavy drink from his glass, jaw set at a pretty imposing angle. "Well, to start, we lost all contact with you halfway through a blown brush pass," he said, and she was surprised to hear the amount of hostility in his voice. "And to make matters even better, DCS pulled rank and forced all DPD agents to jump through some of their polygraph-required hoops to see if one of us was the leak for that journalist woman, so instead of trying to find you and pull you out of a very dangerous situation in an unfriendly country, I got to play twenty questions with one of Arthur Campbell's pitbulls."

She blinked, leaning back a little in surprise. "Give me a second," she said slowly, then smoothly knocked back her second shot. "That's a lot to process."

Auggie chuckled but didn't say anything more, draining the rest of his Jack. "I'm sorry I lost contact with you," she finally said, turning the empty shot glass over in her hands. "But you can blame Eyal- the Mossad agent that turned out to not be a double agent, just a flirt and a jackass. He broke my phone 'cuz he thought I might have been intercepted. This was before we found out the leak was on _his_ end- not that he told me."

She smiled then, knocking her shoulder into his. "Besides, why would the DCS want to interrogate you on that skanky Liza woman?" she asked, determined to get a smirk out of him. "Anyone who knows you would be able to tell them right off the bat that she's so not your type."

Ha. There was her favorite smirk. It was almost funny how many aspects of Auggie were her favorite. "And how do you know what my type is?" he asked.

Okay. She hadn't actually expected to be put on the spot with that one. "I just do," she insisted, which really wasn't much of a convincing argument. "No matter what, you would definitely never go for some whorish reporter, and even if you _did_ , you would never give her information. You're too smart to be tricked by something so dumb."

That actually got a real laugh out of him, and she found herself embarrassingly enough glowing with pride. It was a good thing he couldn't see her blush. Maybe she could just blame it on the booze…

"This may surprise you to learn, but most men have a problem remembering their training when a pretty woman looks their way, even if they happen to be damn good former field operatives."

Annie blushed harder at that one, but that had to be the alcohol taking effect. Hopefully. "Regardless, I maintain she's not your type," she said firmly, risking a glance up at him and smiling shyly.

He laughed again, and she had to resist the strangest desire to pull him into a hug and not let go… for a few days. "I'll admit she's not my type," he said, drumming his fingers against his own glass. "I've always been a sucker for blondes."

She froze, and the shot glass fell out of her hands, skittering across the bar table. She fumbled, quickly grabbing it and setting the glass upright, but the damage was already done. There was no way he could've missed that noise.

But… did he know she was a blonde? He had never asked her about her coloring, but he was still a damn fine- damn _good_ \- CIA agent, and it's not like it would be difficult to find out the information. And even if he _did_ know, it's not like he was insinuating… like he was really trying to say…

Jesus. She needed to lay off the whiskey.

Letting out an awkward laugh, she said, "I don't think I'm anywhere near sober enough to deal with your flirting." She picked up her jacket and purse, digging through the contents in the hopes to find her wallet somewhere at the bottom.

"Don't worry, I got it," Auggie said amicably, pulling out his own wallet from his back pocket and setting down a neatly folded in half fifty.

She arched an eyebrow, surprised. "How much did you have to drink?" she asked.

"When you walked in I was on number four," he replied, standing up next to her and sliding his wallet back in his pocket. Answering her unasked question, he added, "How I fold the bill depends on how I know how much it's worth."

Before she could lose her nerve, she wrapped her arm around his waist- because she needed a little personal affection and not at all because she was still thinking about tackling him. "With that much booze, I'm surprised you're still standing upright."

"I can hold my liquor quite well, thank you," he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders. She noticed he didn't bother to take out his cane as she led them out of the bar, and there was no reasonable explanation for why his trust in her filled her with such an unreasonable amount of pride.

There was no way they were going to get a cab at this hour, but she was determined to try. She walked them over to the edge of the street, raising her free arm and waving like a crazy person. This only lasted for under a minute, at which point Auggie pulled her away from the street, inadvertently- or was it purposely?- dragging her closer to his side. "I may not be able to see, but I remember what it's like to try and find a cab out here at this hour. I think it would be smarter to just start walking."

Annie laughed but kept walking with him, lapsing into a comfortable silence at they walked down the street. To anyone else, they probably looked a lot less platonic and a lot more like a couple, but she couldn't work up the energy to care.

She snuggled her face into his shoulder- because it was kind of chilly out, not because he smelled really, really good. "I am sorry that lost contact with you and made your day worse," she said, nuzzling a bit more than ultimately necessary.

"It's fine now," Auggie replied, sounding a lot more calm and cool than he had earlier, and there was no reason for that to relax her as well, but she could still feel her muscles slowly begin to unclench all the same. "Just from now on, you're not going anywhere without two secured cell phones. Try not to break them both."

Before she could react, he tilted his head and pressed a chaste, gentle kiss to her forehead. She could feel the blood rush to her face almost immediately, but she didn't move, afraid she might ruin the moment- since when did they start having moments?

She grinned. "Deal."


End file.
